Political Director

Job Description: Political Director
Reports to: Executive Director
Salary:$90,000-$120,000
Start date: Jan 2021

About The Democratic Party of Wisconsin: The DPW is nationally recognized as one of the country’s highest-performing and most pivotal political organizations. In the 2021-22 cycle, DPW will drive a massive program to re-elect Governor Tony Evers, defeat Ron Johnson in order to ensure a Democratic US Senate majority, elect candidates up and down the ballot in spring and fall elections alike, and advocate on policy issues. DPW’s work—grounded in inclusion, respect, and empowerment across race, gender, other dimensions of identity, and the rural/suburban/urban divide—continues year-round, working with partners to build a movement that delivers meaningful change for all Wisconsinites. We seek outstanding candidates who share our values and vision to join our team, help win elections, and build a future where everyone can thrive.

The Opportunity: This is an exciting opportunity to function as the political nerve center for Wisconsin Democratic politics best suited for a driven individual with strong interpersonal skills and senior political management experience. As the Political Director, you will oversee several teams covering a wide breadth of political and campaign activity in Wisconsin and will report to the Executive Director and act as a member of the Senior Leadership Team. You’ll be a primary liaison with the Governor’s team, the State Legislative Caucuses, our federal elected officials and candidates, as well as our partners in Labor, and our allies and friends in the broader Democratic movement.  You’ll partner with the Senior Elections Director to execute coordinated table functions, and you’ll serve as the primary convener of the Chair’s “political brain trust.” You will lead our efforts to build and strengthen ties in racially diverse and underrepresented communities across the state by managing our Coalitions team. Our Candidate Services team will undergo a complete redesign under your leadership and will aim to help recruit and support local and legislative candidates. You will manage the Wisconsin Democratic State convention, under the leadership of the Party Affairs team, and provide support to County Parties and various subunits.

Job Responsibilities:

• Develop and strengthen the Political Department, including identifying strategic opportunities for growth and success, as well as managing challenges.
• Act as primary political advisor for the Chair, ED, and other department heads
• Develop a whole new Candidate Services Department, focused on recruitment and building a pipeline of candidates and staffers
• Prioritize deepening the Democratic Party of Wisconsin’s work and presence in communities of color and lifting up the issues most important within them.
• Coordinate political outreach with other departments, especially Elections, Communications, and Organizing, to ensure we are building and utilizing our coalition to its full potential.
• Oversee the internal political affairs of the Party, including membership, state convention, regular Party leadership meetings, and our delegate selection process.
• Maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information with tact and discretion.
• Guide candidates and the Candidate Services team through running competitive campaigns including creating campaign plans and executing paid media strategies.

Qualifications (required)

• Growth mindset: ability to take and get feedback.
• Relentlessly goal-oriented: enjoys working toward and achieving ambitious goals; willing to go over, under, around, or through any obstacle that gets in the way of meeting goals.
• Cultural competency: able to build relationships and collaborate with colleagues, voters, and volunteers across lines of identity difference.
• Keeps Calm in Stressful Situations -- has the capacity and willingness to work long hours during peak season, rolling up their sleeves and getting the work done.
• Experience working effectively across multiple departments or teams within an organization.
• Sharp, strategic instincts, meaning you’re fast on your feet and able to make confident strategic choices with minimal oversight
• Experience hiring and managing a racially diverse team of advocacy, campaign, and/or political professionals to successfully meet ambitious goals.
• Demonstrated experience creating winning plans for candidate campaigns.
• Knowledge of targeted and coordinated paid media purchases for state and local candidates through direct mail, radio, social media, and other common methods.
• Demonstrated commitment to racial and social justice and understanding of issues facing communities of color, immigrant communities, and low-to-moderate income families.

 Qualifications (preferred)

• Prior work for a candidate, a legislative campaign committee or other campaign committee.
• Knowledge of campaign finance laws.
• Working at a state convention and/or the Democratic National Convention, ideally in a state party staff capacity.

Benefits: Great benefits including; health care, dental, vision, life insurance, short term and long-term disability, cell phone stipend, mileage reimbursement, generous annual vacation time, sick days, 401K match,  and holiday time off.

Equity and Inclusion: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has a vision for a deeply inclusive and diverse party organization, membership, and electorate. In order to be successful in this role, the candidate must have the cultural competence to successfully work with a diverse group of constituency groups. We especially strongly encourage applicants with close ties to Black, Latinx, Muslim, Indigenous, non-English-speaking, disability, and LGBTQ communities to apply. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is an Equal Opportunity Employer.